The Rev. Marvin Keen Compher was a graduate of Union Theological Seminary.

The Rev. Marvin Keen Compher, pastor of Overbrook Presbyterian Church in Henrico County from 1953 to 1960, died April 14 in Tampa, Fla. He was 92.

A memorial service will be held Monday at 11 a.m. at Overbrook Presbyterian Church, 2605 Dumbarton Ave.

The Loudoun County native and farm boy had written two books, one a tribute to a black farmhand named Fenton Pollard, who served as a father figure to him after his own father died when Mr. Compher was 2 years old.

Mr. Compher graduated from high school in Waterford and earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Hampden-Sydney College in 1937. He had been offered a chemistry fellowship to Cornell University but underwent a conversion experience and felt called to the ministry, said son John Victor Compher of Philadelphia.

Mr. Compher graduated from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond in 1940 and was ordained to the ministry that year.

His autobiography, "The Road I Would Take Again," told of his ministry to diverse congregations.

He was pastor of several small churches in Covington before serving for 10 years in Kingsport, Tenn., beginning in 1953. In Kingsport, he led Bethel Presbyterian Church, established five new churches, conducted a radio program and served as moderator of Holston Presbytery.

Returning to Virginia to lead Overbrook Church in Henrico, he held Sunday-morning services at the church at 19 Overbrook Road and evening services at the Lakeside Red Cross building. He oversaw the relocation of the church from Overbrook Road to 2605 Dumbarton Ave., the building of a new sanctuary and the acquisition of land for church expansion.

During that time, he served as president of the Richmond Area Council of the Presbyterian Church and chairman of the evangelism committee of the Richmond Ministers Association.

From 1960 to 1965, he served in Elizabethton, Tenn., and then went to Tampa, where he retired as pastor of Forest Hills Presbyterian Church in 1981.

A warm, outgoing man who loved baseball, "he was a great storyteller," said son M. Keen Compher Jr. of Pittsburgh. "He got his stories from Fenton Pollard and from [people in] the mountain culture he served. He was known for building new buildings and members."

In addition to his two sons, survivors include his wife of 68 years, Louise Norton Compher; three other sons, William Norton Compher of Ashford, Wash., Stephen Patterson Compher of Inglewood, Colo., and Daniel Dwight Compher of Carrollwood, Fla.; and five grandchildren.